What’s Memorable: Damn, that followup. She looked so much healthier, it was amazing.

Official Synopsis: Jasmine was extremely close to her grandparents, Reg and Pauline, so when Pauline suddenly passed away, Jasmine couldn’t cope and turned to opioids to erase the pain. Amazingly, Jasmine got control of her addiction and her life gained some new additions: a new career, a new boyfriend and a new baby. But when her relationship became abusive, Jasmine descended back into drugs. After losing custody of her three-year-old son, her use escalated to smoking fentanyl, a habit that costs her $1200 a day. As her family readies themselves for the intervention, they get devastating news: Reg has cancer.

What’s Memorable: That was excruciating on several levels. Obviously the level of drunkenness Robby gets to is outrageous and troubling, but I was most disturbed by the fact that her family for the most part is ignoring the major trigger at hand – Robby is struggling in her transition and desperately needs their validation. She needs to know that they will allow her to be a woman, to see her as a woman, and she’s just not getting it from them. I understand that Janet and others think the alcoholism needs to be addressed before the transgenderism, and of course there’s truth to the urgency of the drinking problem, but I also don’t think they should ignore that fact that whenever she’s wasted she goes on and on about her gender and “what” she is, asking them how they see her. I also get how hard it must be for a family to suddenly change pronouns and think of their husband/father as a wife/mother. That’s obviously not an easy thing to do. But it’s been 5 years! Seems like that should have been enough time for them to get used to the idea and start using “she” instead of “he” all the time. The whole genderfluid thing seemed like she was coming up with something to make it easier on her family to accept, not that she was actually confused. She didn’t seem confused about her gender at all, she seemed unsupported and therefore tentative. I don’t know, I just feel like maybe they could have made more of an effort to acknowledge Robby’s gender instead of treating it like an annoyance and avoiding talking to her about it, especially given how much pain that exact thing was clearly causing her. Although who knows, we only saw short pieces of their life together, maybe they’re making more of an effort than it looked like in the episode. And also maybe she’d still be drinking that much even if everyone around her considered her a woman already. Addiction is complicated like that. I was deeply saddened at the end when she left treatment and didn’t communicate with the producers. I really wanted some semblance of closure on this one and that was about as ambiguous as it gets. I hope she’s ok.

Update: Robyn Stoneburg (Robert Ryan Stoneburg) died November 7th, 2017. The cause of death was reported by a friend as cancer. Death Notice

Official Synopsis: Five years ago Robby came out to his wife of twenty-nine years and two sons as transgender, exploding their world and Robby’s own in the process. Already a heavy drinker, Robby’s drinking intensified after coming out. Now, terrified of losing her wife, and being alone for the first time in her life, Robby has become a blackout drunk, downing up to forty ounces of vodka a day. Once a fun-loving partier, Robby has become increasingly violent when drunk. The family fears for Robby’s safety as well as their own. Without an intervention, Robby is in danger of losing her family forever. (Canadian produced.)

What’s Memorable: The love story with his wife Tanya is really sweet, with the time apart and then the blended family coming together. And then in an instant, a car accident changes everything. It’s crazy how many opiate addicts initially became addicted after being prescribed for pain. There’s something very wrong there. The shoplifting with the friend is interesting, trading steaks for drugs. The followup was heartwarming, I love that his relationship with Tanya is intact.

Official Synopsis: A brutal car accident six years ago left Kevin addicted to prescription opiates. His days are spent in search of oxies, hydros and fentanyl. Once a proud father, husband and working-man, Kevin’s drug use has cost him his twenty-year laborer job, his house and his retirement savings, bringing his family to the point of bankruptcy. Now, facing eviction and having drained his wife and parents financially, Kevin still cannot stop. Increasingly desperate Kevin has started stealing and selling groceries to support his habit. Kevin’s family has come together to try and save him through an intervention. (Canadian Produced.)

What’s Memorable: The whole weird situation with his sister on a night when he was high was disturbing. I hope he’s made amends for that because it clearly affected his sister Katie, she obviously needs some closure there. I love that when he got to treatment he was immediately motivated to commit himself to recovery and really make an effort. I love it when they do that! All in all a powerful and heartwarming episode.

Official Synopsis: Handsome, talented musician’s promising career is sideswiped by crystal meth, plunging him into a life of crime, prostitution, and addiction. (Canadian produced.)

What’s Memorable: Kathy is obviously a very smart, vibrant, fun, strong woman when she’s not high or trying to get high. She had ROUGH childhood, and adulthood for that matter, so it’s not shocking that she would turn to drugs. But she did so great for a while and her slide from where she once was is so unsettling. Her misery about being who she is right now, while simultaneously demanding to be able to stay that way, is a difficult thing to watch. I had high hopes for her recovery, too bad it didn’t take. Hopefully she’ll get herself into treatment and get back to being who she really is.

Official Synopsis: Wealthy entrepreneur loses everything to crack, reducing her life to a never ending cycle of prostitution and begging. (Canadian produced.)

What’s Memorable: I have to say, this one really disgusted me. The way she has normalized shooting up as a regular part of her young childrens’ daily lives is really troubling to me. Not only does she inject many times a day right in front of them, with them actually sitting next to her asking her questions as she does it, she also leaves the needles lying around on the table and the floor where they’re easily accessible to her kids. I sympathize with Jennifer’s addiction but I cannot sympathize with the level of selfishness and neglect it takes to do that to your kids. And while I also sympathize with her husband, I don’t understand why he can’t at least pick the needles up off the floor or suggest that maybe she go into another room. Ugh, it just all really sickened me. This was some of the most irresponsible, dangerous parenting I’ve ever witnessed. If she couldn’t get clean after treatment, I’m at least relieved to find out that she’s no longer living with her children.

Official Synopsis: A young mother’s eating disorder has been a life-long affliction, now compounded by drug and sex addiction–but to get rid of all of her demons she’ll have to eliminate more than just her food. (Canadian produced.)

Legacy Update: Aired during Brad and Sam’s episode 6.5.18. He’s still sober and doing well in Nashville.

Official Synopsis: Todd was a successful house flipper from a prominent real estate family who was on track to take over the family business, but when the housing market collapsed in 2009, Todd lost everything. Financially busted, Todd moved his wife and daughter into his parents’ home and began to work for them. But two severe construction accidents led him to painkillers and ultimately to dependency. When Todd’s wife divorced him, he shifted to meth and his addiction careened out of control. His close-knit family is devastated as they watch their “Golden Boy” fall apart before their eyes. Donna Chavous is Todd’s Interventionist.

What’s Memorable: Ken knocked this one out of the park. He developed a strategy for getting her to say yes based on what he knew about the family dynamics, and it worked. He knew exactly what she needed to hear. Well done Ken.

Official Synopsis: In three years, Diana’s alcoholism has gotten so bad that it has led her to being diagnosed with Wernicke-Korsakoff Syndrome, an alcohol-related brain disorder, which recently landed her in the hospital with temporary paralysis and a feeding tube… which she poured vodka into! Diana’s addiction has destroyed her career, her relationships, and now her health. Her parents know that if she doesn’t get help now, she won’t live to celebrate her 30th birthday. Ken Seeley is Diana’s Interventionist.

What’s Memorable: I’ve watched every episode of Intervention, many of them multiple times, and after 16 seasons in 12 years, it’s become more and more difficult for me to get emotional. Maybe it’s because I know the show’s formula so well and I’ve seen all the possible endings – from successful treatment to relapse to death – that it’s hard to surprise me. I don’t even try to guess anymore if an addict is going to be successful or even survive. You just never know until you get to that final black screen. But it bothers me that it doesn’t make me cry so much anymore. I mean this is sad, heavy stuff and I used to cry at every pretty much every episode, now it’s 1 or maybe 2 per season that does it to me. Anyway, this was apparently that episode. I can’t say what it was exactly that cause me to cry like a little baby at the end. Maybe because Sturgill was such a good and warm-hearted guy. Maybe it was how much he and his family cried in pain and in joy, or how hopeful but honest Sturgill was after getting sober. Maybe it was that he wanted to get into Drug & Alcohol counseling to help other people because that’s just the kind of person he is. Maybe it’s just my own issues with addiction being triggered by his story. I don’t know, but this was an excellent episode of Intervention and it gets placed in the Most Likeable Addicts and Most Uplifting episodes. Because that’s how I felt when it was over. Uplifted. Hopeful. Happy. Like Sturgill.

Official Synopsis: Sturgill was a promising young golden gloves boxer and wrestler who dreamed of the Olympics. He was also an academically gifted pre-med student. But a broken arm and multiple surgeries led to a pain pill addiction, which soon turned to heroin. Now, Sturgill’s drug habit includes a dangerous combination of Methadone, benzos and alcohol. His family fears that he’s on the verge of mixing that one fatal dose. Sylvia Parsons is Sturgill’s Interventionist.

Official Synopsis: Kristie dreamed of being a museum curator and was getting her masters degree at Johns Hopkins University. But a childhood diagnosis of OCD caused by anxiety, worsened and caused her to drop out of school and begin to self medicate with alcohol. Though she married three years ago, her addiction ultimately spiraled out of control to include a large mix of drugs and huffing. She’s been admitted to the hospital several times this year alone and after her husband divorced her, Kristie hit rock bottom and now her family fears that without help, she will soon die. Ken Seeley is Kristie’s Interventionist.

Official Synopsis: Tiffany had the talent to be a successful graphic designer, but severe complications from the birth of her first child led to an addiction to prescribed pain pills. Then post-partum depression after her second and third pregnancies, resulted in an opiate addiction. After her husband took their three kids and filed for divorce, Tiffany became a full time heroin addict. Today, she has a new husband and baby, but her addiction is threatening to end the marriage, and if she doesn’t get help–her life.

Official Synopsis: Katie was a beautiful and successful mortgage broker and drug & alcohol counselor whose pride and joy were her two kids. But a devastating breakup resulting in losing custody, and sent Katie into a downward spiral of heroin and meth addiction. Her face is now ravaged from use, and her veins are so damaged that she resorts to injecting anally, aka booty bumping. Katie supports her habit by webcam stripping and prostitution, and her family fears that if she doesn’t get help, the next step will be an OD.